Blood Of Olympus
by Fasiha
Summary: I liked Blood Of Olympus. A lot. But...it didn't live up to my expectations. I'm sure a lot of you have felt this too. That's why I'm writing it again, this time a bit different. A bit added comments,scenes,chapters and definitely another ending. I hope it will live up to everyone's expectations. Obviously-Spoilers: Blood Of Olympus. ALL CREDIT GOES TO RICK RIORDAN.
1. I- Jason

Perhaps it will be boring in the start (for those who have read), but I promise it will get better.

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><p>I<p>

Jason

**Jason hated being old.**

His joints hurt. His legs shook. As he tried to climb the hill, his lungs rattled like a box of rocks.

He couldn't see his face, thank goodness, but his fingers were gnarled and bony. Bulging blue veins webbed the back of his hands.

He even had that old-man smell-mothballs and chicken soup. How was that possible? He'd gone from sixteen to twenty-five in a matter of seconds, but the old-man smell happened instantly, like _Boom. Congratulations! You stink!_

'Almost there.' Piper smiled at him. 'You're doing great.'

Easy for her to say. Piper and Annabeth were disguised as lovely Greek serving maidens.

Even in their white sleeveless gowns and laced sandals, they had no trouble navigating the rocky path.

Pipers mahogany hair was pinned up in a braided spiral. Silver bracelets adorned her arms. She resembled an ancient statue of her mom, Aphrodite, which Jason found a little intimidating.

Dating a beautiful girl was nerve-racking enough. Dating a beautiful girl whose mom was the goddess of love...well, Jason was always afraid he'd do something unromantic and Piper's mom would frown down from Mount Olympus and change him into a feral hog.

Jason glanced uphill. The summit was still a hundred yards above.

'Worst idea ever.' He leaned against a cedar tree and wiped his forehead. 'Hazel's magic is too good. If I have to fight, I'll be useless.'

'It won't come to that,' Annabeth promised. She looked uncomfortable in her serving-maiden outfit. She kept hunching her shoulders to keep the dress from slipping.

Her pinned up blonde bun had come undone in the back and her hair dangled like long spider legs. Knowing her hatred of spiders, Jason decided not to mention that.

'We infiltrate the palace' she said 'We get the information we need, and we get out.'

Piper set down her amphora, the tall ceramic wine jar in which her sword was hidden. 'We can rest for a second. Catch your breath, Jason.'

From her waist cord hung her cornucopia- the magic horn of plenty. Tucked somewhere in the folds of her dress was her knife, Katoptris. Piper didn't look dangerous, but if the need arose she could duel-wield Celestial bronze blades or shoot her enemies in the face with ripe mangoes.

Annabeth slung her own amphora off her shoulder. She, too, had a concealed sword, but even without a visible weapon she looked deadly. Her stormy grey eyes scanned the surroundings, alert for any threat. If any dude asked Annabeth for a drink, Jason figured she was more likely to kick the guy in the bifurcum. Sure, she was intimidating, but she didn't look like someone who had just survived Tartarus a few days ago.

Jason tried to steady his breathing.

Below them Afales Bay glittered, the water so blue it might've been dyed with food colouring. A few hundred yards offshore, the _Argo II_ rested at anchor. It's white sails looked no bigger than postage stamps, it's ninety oars like toothpicks.

Jason imagined his friends on deck, following his process, taking turns with Leo's spyglass, trying not to laugh as the watched Grandpa Jason hobble uphill.

'Stupid Ithaca,' he muttered.

He supposed the island was pretty enough. A spine of forested hills twitched down its centre. Chalky white slopes plunged into the sea. Inlets formed rocky beaches and harbors where red-roofed houses and white stucco churches nestled against the shoreline.

The hills were dotted with poppies, crocuses and wild cherry trees. The breeze smelled of blooming myrtle. All very nice-except the temperature was about a hundred and five degrees. The air was as steamy as a a Roman bathhouse. It would've been easy for Jason to control the winds and fly to the top of the hill, but _nooo_. For the sake of stealth, he had to struggle along as an old dude with bad knees and chicken soup stink.

He thought about his last climb, two weeks ago, when Hazel and he had faced the bandit Sciron on the cliffs of Croatia. At least then Jason had been at full strength. What they were about to face would be much worse than a bandit.

'You sure this is the right hill?' He asked. 'Seems kind of-I don't know- quiet.'

Piper studied the ridgeline. Braided in her hair was a bright blue harpy feathers-a souvenir from last nights attack. The feather didn't exactly go with her disguise, but Piper had earned it, defeating an entire flock of demon chicken ladies by herself while she was on duty. She downplayed the accomplishment, but Jason could tell she felt good about it. The feather was a remind that she wasn't the same girl she'd been last winter, when they'd first arrived at Camp Half-Blood.

'The ruins are up there,' she promised. 'I saw them in Katoptris's blade."

Annabeth nodded in agreement. "And you heard what Hazel said. "The biggest-"'

'"The biggest gathering of evil spirits I've ever sensed,"' Jason recalled.'Yeah, sounds awesome.'

After battling through the underground temple in Hades, the last thing Jason wanted was to deal with more evil spirits. But the fate of the quest was at stake. The crew of the

Argo II had a big decision to make. If they chose wrong, they would fail and the entire world would be destroyed.

Piper's blade, Hazel's magic and Annabeth's senses all agreed- the answer lay her in Ithaca, at the ancient palace of Odysseus, where a horde of evil spirits had gathered to await Gaia's orders. The plan was to sneak among them, learn what was going on and decide the best course of action. Then get out, preferably alive.

Annabeth readjusted her golden belt. 'I hope our disguises hold up. The suitors were nasty customers when they were alive. If they find out we're demigods-'

'Hazel's magic will work,' Piper said.

Jason tried to believe that.

The suitors; a hundred of the greediest, evilest cut-throats who'd ever lived. When Odysseus, the Greek King if Ithaca, went missing after the Trojan War, this mob of

B- list princes had invaded his palace and refused to leave, each one hoping to marry Queen Penelope and take over the kingdom. Odysseus managed to return in secret and slaughter them all- your basic happy homecoming. But If Piper's visions were right, the suitors were now back, haunting the place where they'd died.

Jason couldn't believe he was about to visit the actual palace of Odysseus- one of the most famous Greek heroes of all time. Then again, this whole quest had been one mind-blowing event after another. Annabeth herself had just come back from the eternal abyss of Tartarus. Given that, Jason decided maybe he shouldn't complain about being an old man.

'Well...' He steadied himself with his walking stick. 'If I look as old as I feel, my disguise must be perfect. Let's get going.'

As they climbed, sweat trickled down his neck. His calves ached. Despite the heat, he began to shiver. And ,try as he might, he couldn't stop thinking about his recent dreams.

Ever since the House of Hades, they'd become more vivid.

Sometimes Jason stood in the underground temple of Epirus, the giant Clytius looming over him, speaking in a chorus of disembodied voices: _It took all of you together to defeat me. What will you do when the Earth Mother opened her eyes?_

Other times, Jason found himself at the crest of Half-Blood Hill. Gaia, the Earth Mother rose from the ground-a swirling future of soil, leaves and stones.

_Poor child. _Her voice resonated across the landscape shaking the bedrock under his feet. _Your father is the first among the gods, yet you are always second best- to your roman comrades, to your Greek friends, even to your family. How will you prove yourself?_

His worst dream started in the courtyard of the Sonoma Wolf House. Before him stood the goddess Juno, glowing with the radiance of molten silver.

_Your life belongs to me,_ her voice thundered. _An appeasement from Zeus._

Jason knew he shouldn't look, but he couldn't close his eyes as Juno went supernova, revealing her true godly form. Pain seared Jason's mind. His body burned away in layers like an onion.

Then the scene changed. Jason was still at the Wolf House, but now he was a little boy- no more than two years old. A woman knelt before him, her lemony scent so familiar, her features were watery and indistinct, but he knew her voice: bright and brittle, like the thinnest layer of ice over a fast stream.

_I will be back for you dearest,_ she said _I will see you soon._

Every time Jason woke up from that nightmare, his face was beaded with sweat. His eyes stung with tears.

Nico di Angelo had warned them: the House of Hades would stir their worst memories, make them see things and hear things from the past. Their ghosts would become restless.

Jason had hoped that one _particular_ ghost would stay away, but every night the dream got worse. Now he was climbing to the ruins of a palace where an army of ghosts had gathered.

_That doesn't mean _she'll _be there, _Jason told himself.

But his hand wouldn't stop trembling. Every step seemed harder than the last.

'Almost there,' Annabeth said. 'Let's-'

_Boom! _The hillside rumbled. Somewhere over the ridge, a crowd roared in approval, like spectators in a coliseum. The sound made Jason's skin crawl. Not so long ago, he'd fought for his life in the Roman Colosseum before a cheering ghostly audience. He wasn't anxious to repeat the experience.

'What was that explosion?' He wondered.

'Don't know,' Piper said. 'But it sounds like they're having fun. Let's go make some dead friends.'


	2. II-Jason

Not much needed to be changed here(more than the last chapter, though), but I'll make it better.

Promise

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><p>II<p>

Jason

**Naturally, the situation was worse than Jason expected.**

Peering through the olive bushes at the top of the rise, he saw what looked like an out-of-control zombie frat party.

The ruins themselves weren't that impressive: a few stone walls, a weed-choked central courtyard, a dead-end stairwell chiseled in rock. Some plywood sheets covered a pit and a metal scaffold supported a cracked archway.

But superimposed over the ruins was another layer of reality- a spectral mirage if the palace as it must have appeared in its heyday. Whitewashed stucco walls lined with balconies rose three storeys high. Columned porticoes faced the central atrium, which had a huge fountain and bronze braziers. At a dozen banquet tables, ghouls laughed and ate and pushed one another around.

Jason had expected about a hundred spirits, but twice that many were milling about, chasing spectral serving girls, smashing plates and cups, and basically making a nuisance of themselves.

Most looked like Lares from Camp Jupiter- transparent purple wraiths in tunics and sandals. A few revellers had decayed bodies with grey flesh, matted clump of hair and nasty wounds. Others seemed to be regular living mortals- some in togas, some in modern business suits or army fatigues.

Jason even spotted one guy in a purple Camp Jupiter T-shirt and Roman legionnaire armour.

In the centre of the atrium, a grey-skinned ghoul in tattered Greek tunic paraded through the crowd, holding a marble bust over his head like a sports trophy. The other ghosts cheered and slapped him on the back. As the ghoul got closer, Jason noticed that he had an arrow in his throat, the feathered shaft sprouting from his Adam's apple. Even more disturbing: the huts he was holding...was that _Zeus?_

It was hard to be sure. Most Greek god statues looked similar. But the bearded, glowering face reminded Jason very much of the giant Hippie Zeus in Cabin One at Camp Half-Blood.

'Our next offering!' the ghouls shouted, his voice buzzing from the arrow in his throat.

'Let us feed the Earth Mother!'

The partiers yelled and pounded their cups. The ghoul mad his way to the central fountain. The crowd parted, and Jason realized the fountain wasn't filled with water.

From the three-foot-tall pedestal, a geyser of sand spewed upward, arching spilling into the circular basin.

The ghoul heaved the marble bust into the fountain. As soon as Zeus's head passed through the shower of sand, the marble disintegrated like it was going through a wood chipper. The sand glittered gold, the colour if Ichor- godly blood.

The entire mountain rumbled with a muffled BOOM, as if belching after a meal.

The dead partygoers roared with approval.

'Any more statues?' the ghoul shouted to the crowd 'No? Then I guess we'll have to wait for some _real_ gods to sacrifice!'

His comrades laughed and applauded as the ghoul plopped himself down at the nearest feast table.

Jason clenched his walking stick. 'That guy just disintegrated my dad. Who does he think he _is?' _

'I'm guessing that's Antinous,' said Annabeth,'one of the suitors' leaders. If I remember right, it was Odysseus who shot him through the neck with that arrow.'

Piper winced. 'You'd think that would keep a guy down. What about all the others? Why are there so many?'

'Newer recruits for Gaia, I guess.' Annabeth said. 'Some must've come back to life before we closed the Doors of Death.' She shuddered, relishing the memory. 'Some are just spirits.'

'Some are ghouls,' Jason said. 'The ones with the gaping wounds and the grey skin, like Antinous...I've fought their kind before.'

Piper tugged at her blue harpy feather. 'Can they be killed?'

Jason remembered a quest he'd taken for Camp Jupiter years ago in San Bernardino. 'Not easily. They're strong, fast and intelligent. Also they eat human flesh.'

'Fantastic,' Annabeth muttered. 'I don't see any option except to stick to the plan. Split up, infiltrate, find out why they're here. If things go bad-'

'We use the backup plan,' Piper said.

Jason hated the backup plan.

Before they left the ship, Leo had given each of them an emergency flare the size of a birthday candle. Supposedly, if they tossed one in the air, it works shoot upwards in streak of white phosphorus, alerting the _Argo II_ that the team was in trouble. At that point, Jason and the girls would have a few seconds to take cover before the ship's catapults fired on their position, engulfing the place in Greek fire and bursts of celestial bronze shrapnel.

Not the safest plan, but at least Jason had the satisfaction knowing that he could call an air strike on this noisy mob of dead guys if the situation got dicey. Of course, that was assuming he and his friends could get away. _And_ assuming Leo's doomsday candles didn't go off by accident- Leo's inventions sometimes did that- in which case the weather would get much hotter, with a ninety percent chance of fiery apocalypse.

'Be careful down there' he told Piper and Annabeth. They nodded before Piper crept around the left side of the ridge and Annabeth the right. Jason pulled himself up with his walking stick and hobbled towards the ruins.

He flashed back to the last time he'd plunged into a mob of evil spirits, in the House of Hades. If it hadn't been for Frank and Nico...

Gods..._Nico._

Over the past few days, every time Jason sacrificed a portion of a meal to Jupiter, he prayed to his dad to help Nico. That kid had gone through so much, and yet he had volunteered for the most difficult job : transporting the Athena Parthenos statue to Camp Half-Blood. If he didn't succeed , the Roman and Greek demigods would slaughter each other. Then no matter what happened in Greece, the _Argo II _would have no home to return to.

Jason passed through the palace's ghostly gateway. He realized just in time that a section of mosaic floor in front of him was an illusion covering a ten-foot-deep excavation pit. He sidestepped it and continued into the courtyard.

The two levels of reality reminded him of the Titan stronghold on Mount Othrys- a disorienting maze of black marble walls that randomly melted into shadow and solidified again. At least during the fight, Jason had a hundred legionnaires at his side. Now all he had was an old man's body, a stick and two friends in silky dresses.

Forty feet ahead if him, Piper moved through the crowd, smiling and filling wineglasses for the ghostly revellers. If she was afraid, she didn't show it. So far the ghosts weren't paying her attention. Hazels magic must have been working.

On the right, Annabeth collected empty plates and goblets. She wasn't smiling.

Jason remembered the talk he'd had with Percy before leaving the ship.

Percy had reluctantly stayed on the ship to watch out for threats from the sea, but he hadn't liked the idea of Annabeth going on this expedition without him-especially since it would be the first time they were apart since returning from Tartarus.

He'd pulled Jason aside. 'Hey, man...Annabeth would kill me if I suggested she needed anybody to protect her.'

Jason laughed. 'Yeah, she would'

'But look out for her, okay?"

Jason squeezed his friends shoulder. 'I'll make sure she gets back safely.'

Now Jason wondered if he could keep that promise.

He reached the edge of the crowd.

A raspy voice cried, 'IROS!'

Antinous, the ghoul with the arrow in his throat, was staring right at him. 'Is that you, you old beggar?'

Hazel's magic did it's work. Cold air rippled across Jason's face as the Mist subtly altered his appearance, showing the suitors what they expected to see.

"That's me!' Jason said. 'Iros!'

A dozen more ghosts turned towards him. Some scowled and grilled the hilts of their glowing purple swords. Too late, Jason wondered if Iros was an enemy if theirs, but he'd committed to the part.

He hobbled forward, putting on his best cranky old man expression. 'Guess I'm late to the party. I hope you saved me some food?'

One of the ghosts sneered in disgust. 'Ungrateful old panhandler. Should I kill him, Antinous?'

Jason's neck muscles tightened.

Antinous regarded him for three counts, then chuckled.

'I'm in a good mood today. Come, Iros, join me at my table.'

Jason didn't have much choice. He sat across from Antinous while more ghosts crowded around, leering as if they expected to see a particularly vicious arm-wrestling contest.

Up close, Antinous eyes were solid yellow. His lips stretched paper-thin over wolffish teeth. At first, Jason thought the ghoul's curly dark hair was disintegrating. Then he realized a steady stream of dirt was trickling from Antinous's scalp, spilling over his shoulders. Clods of mud filled the old sword gashes in the ghoul's grey skin. More dirt spilled from the base of the arrow wound in his throat.

The power of Gaia, Jason thought. The earth is holding this guy together.

Antinous slid a golden goblet and platter of food across the table. 'I didn't expect to see you here, Iros. But I suppose even a beggar can sue for retribution. Drink. Eat'

Thick red liquid sloshed in the goblet. On the plate sat a steaming brown lump of mystery meat.

Jason's stomach rebelled. Even if ghoul food wouldn't kill him, his vegetarian girlfriend wouldn't kiss him for a week.

He recalled what Notus the South Wind had told him: _a wind that blows aimlessly is no hood to anyone._

Jason's entire life at Camp Jupiter had been built on careful choices. He meditated between demigods, listened to all sides of an argument, found compromises. Even when he chafed against Roman traditions, he thought before he acted. He wasn't impulsive.

Notus had warned him that such hesitation would kill him. Jason had to stop deliberating and take what he wanted.

If he was an ungrateful beggar, he had to _act_ like one.

He ripped off the chunk of meat with his fingers and stuffed it in his mouth. He guzzled some red liquid, which thankfully tasted like watered-down wine, not blood or poison. Jason fought the urge to gag, but he didn't keel over or explode.

'Yum!' He wiped his mouth. 'Now tell me about this...what did you call it? Retribution? Where do I sign up?'

The ghosts laughed. One pushed his shoulder and Jason was alarmed that he could actually _feel_ it.

At Camp Jupiter, Lares had no physical substance. Apparently these spirits _did_- which meant more enemies who could beat, stab or decapitate him.

Antinous leaned forward. 'Tell me, Iros, what do you have to offer? We don't need you to run messages for us like in the old days. Certainly, you aren't a fighter. As I recall, Odysseus crushed your haw and tossed you into the pigsty.'

Jason's neurons fired. _Iros_...the old man who'd run messages for the suitors in exchange for scraps of food.

Iros had been sort if like their pet homeless person. When Odysseus came home, disguised as a beggar, Iros thought the new guy was moving in on his territory. The two had started arguing...

'You made Iros-' Jason hesitated. 'You made me fight Odysseus. You bet money on it. Even when Odysseus took off his shirt and you saw how muscular he was...you still made me fight him. You didn't care if I lived or died!'

Antinous bared his pointed teeth. 'Of course I don't care. I still don't! But you're here, so Gaia must have had a reason to allow you back into the mortal world. Tell me, why are you worthy of a share in our spoils?'

'What spoils?'

Antinous spread his hands. 'The entire world, my friend. The first time we met here, we were only after Odysseus's land, his money and his wife.'

'Especially his wife!' A bald ghost in ragged clothes elbowed Jason in the ribs. 'That Penelope was a hot little honey cake!'

Jason caught a glimpse of Piper serving drinks at the table. She discreetly put her finger to her mouth in a _gag me_ gesture, then went back to flirting with dead guys.

Antinous sneered. 'Eurymachus, you whining coward. You never stood a _chance_ with Penelope. I remember you blubbering and pleading for your life with Odysseus, blaming everything on me!'

'Lot of good did it me.' Eurymachus lifted his tattered shirt, revealing an inch-wide hole in the middle of his spectral chest. 'Odysseus shot me in the heart, just because I wanted to marry his wife!'

'At any rate...,' Antinous turned to Jason 'We have gathered now for a much bigger prize. Once Gaia destroys the gods , we will divide up the remnants of the mortal world!'

'Dibs on London!' yelled a ghoul at the next table,

'Montrea!' shouted another.

'Duluth!' yelled a third, which momentarily stopped the conversation as the other ghosts gave him confused looks.

The meat and wine turned to lead in Jason's stomach. 'What about the rest of these...guests? I count at least two hundred. Half of them are new to me.'

Antinous's yellow eyes gleamed. 'All of them are suitors for Gaia's favour. All have claims and grievances against the gods or their pet heroes. That scoundrel over there is Hippias, former tyrant of Athens. He got deposed and sided with the Persians to attack his own countrymen. No morals whatsoever. He'd do anything for power.'

'Thank you!' called Hippias.

'That rogue with the turkey leg in his mouth,' Antinous continued, 'that's Hasdrubal of Carthage. He has a grudge to settle with Rome.'

'Mhhmm.' said the Carthagian.

'And Michael Varus-'

Jason choked. _'Who?'_

Over by the sand fountain, the dark-haired guy in the purple T-shirt and legionnaire armour turned to face them. His outline was blurred, smoky and indistinct, so Jason guessed he was some form if spirit, but the legion tattoo on his forearm was clear enough: the letters SPQR, the double faced head of the god Janus and six score marks for years of service. On his breastplate hung the badge of praetorship and the emblem of the Fifth Cohort.

Jason had never met Michael Varus, the infamous praetor died in the 1989s. Still, Jason's skin crawled when he met Varus's gaze. Those sunken eyes seemed to bore right through Jason's disguise.

Antinous waved dismissively. 'He's a Roman demigod. Lost his legion's eagle in...Alaska, was it? Doesn't matter. Gaia let's him hang around. He insists he had some insight into defeating Camp Jupiter. But you, Iros?- you still haven't answered my question. Why should you be welcome among us. Varus's dead eyes had unnerved Jason. He could feel the mist thinning around him, reacting to his uncertainty.

Suddenly Annabeth appeared at Antinous's shoulder.

'More wine, my lord? Oops!'

She spilled the contents of a silver pitcher down the back of Antinous's neck.

'Gahh!' The ghoul arched his spine. 'Foolish girl! Who let you back from Tartarus?'

'A Titan, my lord.' Annabeth dipped her head apologetically. Jason noticed the thickness in her voice. 'May I bring you some moist towelettes? Your arrow is dripping.'

'Begone!'

Annabeth caught Jason's eye- a silent message of support- then she disappeared in the crowd.

The ghoul wiped himself off, giving Jason a chance to collect his thoughts.

He was Iros...former messenger of the suitors. Why would he be here? Why should they accept him?

He picked up the nearest steak knife and stabbed it in the table, making the ghosts around him jumpy.

"Why should you welcome me?' Jason growled. 'Because I'm still running messages, you stupid wretches! I've just come from the House if Hades to see what you're up to'

The last part was true, and it seemed to give Antinous pause. The ghoul glared at him, wine still dripping from the arrow shaft in his throat.

'You expect me to believe Gaia sent you- a beggar- to check up on us?

Jason laughed. 'I was among the last to leave Epirus before the Doors of Death were closed! I saw the chamber where Clytius stood guard under a doomed ceiling tiled with tombstones. I walked the jewel-and-bone floor of the Necromanteion!'

That was also true. Around the table, ghosts shifted and muttered.

'So, Antinous...' Jason jabbed a finger at the ghoul. 'Maybe you should explain to me while you're worthy of Gaia's favour. All I see is a crowd of lazy, dawdling dead folk enjoying themselves and not helping the war effort. What should I tell the Earth Mother?'

Out of the corner of his eye Jason saw Piper flash him a smiled as Amnabeth nodded approvingly.

Antinous wrapped his hand around the steak knife Jason had impaled in the table. He pulled it out and studied the blade. 'If you come from Gaia, you must know we are here under orders. Porphyrion decreed it.' Antinous ran the knife blade across his palm. Instead of blood, dry dirt spilled from the cut.'You do know Porphyrion?...'

Jason struggled to keep his nausea under control. He remembered Porphyrion just fine from the battle at the Wolf House.

'The giant king-green skin, forty feet tall,white eyes, hair braided with weapons. Of course I know him. He's a lot more impressive than you.'

He decided not to mention that the bblast time he saw the giant King, Jason had blasted him in the head with lightning.

For once, Antinous looked speechless, but his bald ghost friend Eurymachus put an arm around Jason's shoulders.

'Now, now, friend!' Eurymachus smelled like sour wine and burning electrical wires. His ghostly touch mad Jason's ribcage tingle. 'I'm sure we didn't mean to question your credentials! It's just, well, if you've spoken with Porphyrion in Athens, you _know_ why we're here. I assure you, we're doing exactly as he ordered!'

Jason tried to mask his surprise. _Porphyrion in Athens._

Gaia had promised to pull up the gods by their roots. Chiron, Jason's mentor at Camp Half-Blood, had assumed that meant that the giants would try yo rouse the earth goddess at the original Mount Olympus. But now...

'The Acropolis,' Jason said. 'The most ancient temples of the gods, in the middle of Athens. That's where Gaia will wake.'

'Of course!' Eurymachus laughed. The wound in his chest mad a popping sound, like a porpoise's blowhole. 'And, to get there, those meddlesome demigods will have to travel by sea, eh? They know it's too dangerous to fly over land,'

'Which means they'll have to pass this island,' Jason said.

Eurymachus nodded eagerly. He removed his arm from Jason's shoulders and dipped his fingers in his wineglass. 'At that point,they'll have to make a choice, eh?'

On the tabletop, he traced a coastline, red wine glowing unnaturally against the wood. He drew Greece like a mis-shapen hourglass- a large dangly blob for the northern mainland,then another blob below it, almost as large-the big chunk of land known as the Peloponnese. Cutting between them was a narrow line of sea- the Straits of Corinth.

Jason hardly needed a picture. He and the rest of the crew had spent the last day at sea studying maps.

'The most direct route,' Eurymachus said, 'would be due east from here, across the Straits of Corinth. But if they try to got that way-'

'Enough,' Antinous snapped. 'You have a loos tounge, Eurymachus.'

The ghost looked offended, 'I wasn't going to tell him everything! Just about the Cyclopes armies massed on either shore. And the raging storm spirits on the air. And those vicious sea monsters Kato sent to infest the waters. And of course if the ship got as far as Delphi-'

'Idiot!' Antinous lunged across the table and grabbed the ghost's wrist. A thin crust of dirt spread from the ghoul's hand, straight up Eurymachus's spectral arm.

'No!' Eurymachus yelped. 'Please! I-I only meant-'

The ghost screamed at the dirt covered his body like a shell, then cracked apart, leaving nothing but a pile of dust. Eurymachus was gone.

Antinous sat back and brushed off his hands. The other suitors at the table watched him in wary silence.

'Apologies, Iros.' The ghoul smiled coldly. 'All you need to know is this-the ways to Athens are well guarded, just as we promised. The demigods would either have to risk the straits, which is impossible or sail around the entire Peloponnese, which us hardly any safer. In any event, it's unlikely they will survive long enough to _make_ that choice once they reach Ithaca, we will know. We will stop them here and Gaia will see how valuable we are. You can take that message to Athens.'

Jason's heart hammered against his sternum. He'd never seen anything like the shell of earth that Antinous had summoned to destroy Eurymachus. He didn't want to find out if that power worked on demigods.

Also, Antinous sounded confident that he could destroy the Argo II. Hazel's magic seemed to be obscuring the ship but there was no telling how long that would last.

Jason had the intel they'd come for. Their goal was Athens. The safer route, or at least the _not impossible _route, was around the southern coast. Today 20 July. They only had days before Gaia planned to awake,on 1 August, the ancient Feast of Hope.

Jason and his friends needed to leave while they had the chance.

But something else bothered him- a cold news foreboding, as if he hadn't heard the worst news yet. Eurymachus had mentioned Delphi. Jason had hoped to visit the ancient site of Apollo's Oracle, maybe get some insight of his personal future, but if the place had been overrun by monsters...

He pushed aside his plate of cold food. 'Sounds like everything is under control. For your sake Antinous, I hope so. These demigods are resourceful. They closed the Doors of Death. We wouldn't want them sneaking last you, perhaps getting help from Delphi'

Antinous chuckled. 'No risk of that. Delphi is no longer in Apollo's control.'

'I-I see. And if the demigods sail the long way around the Peloponnese?'

'You worry too much. That journey is _never_ safe for demigods, and it's much too far. Besides, Victory runs rampant in Olympia. As long as that's the case, there is no way the demigods can win this war.'

Jason didn't understand what that meant either, but he nodded. 'Very well. I will report as much to King Porphyrion. Thanks you for the,er, meal.'

Over by the fountain, Michael Varus called, 'Wait.'

Jason bit back a curse. He'd been trying to ignore the dead praetor, but now Varus walked over, surrounded in a hazy white aura, his white deep-set eyes like sinkholes.

At his side hung an Imperial gold _gladius_.

'You must stay,' Varus said.

Antinous shot the ghost an irritated look. 'What's the problem, legionnaire? If Iros wants to leave, let him. He smells bad!'

The other ghosts laughed nervously. Across the courtyard, Piper shot Jason a worried look. A little further away, Annabeth casually palmed a carving knife from the neatest platter of meat.

Varus rested his hand on the pommel of his sword. Despite the heat, his breastplate was glazed with ice. 'I lost my cohort _twice_ in Alaska-once in life, one in death to a _Graecus_ named Percy Jackson. Still I have come here to answer Gaia's call. Do you know why?'

Jason swallowed as Annabeth's eyes widened at Percy's name. 'Stubbornness?' He said.

'This is a place of longing' Varus said. 'All of us are drawn here, sustained not only by Gaia's power, but by our strongest desire. Eurymachus's greed. Antinous's cruelty.'

'You flatter me.' The ghouls muttered.

'Hasdrubal's hatred' Varus continued. 'Hippias's bitterness. My ambition. And you, _Iros_, what has drawn you here? What does a beggar most desire? Perhaps a home?'

An uncomfortable tingle started at the base of Jason's skull- the same feeling he got when a huge electrical storm was about to break.

'I should be going,' he said. 'Messages to carry.'

Muchael Varus drew his sword. 'My father is Janus, the god of two faces. I am used to seeing through masks and deception. Do you know, Iros, why we are so sure no demigod will pass our island undetected?'

Jason silently ran through his repertoire of Latin cuss words. He tried to calculate how long it would take him to get out his emergency flare and fire it. Hopefully he could by enough time for the girls to find shelter before this mob of dead guys slaughtered him.

He turned to Antinous. 'Look, are you in charge here or not? Maybe you should muzzle your a Roman.'

The ghoul took a deep breath. The arrow rattled in his throat. 'Ah, but this might be entertaining. Go on, Varus.'

The dead praetor raised his sword. 'Our desired reveal us, they show for who we really are. Someone has come for you, Jason Grace.'

Behind Varus, the crowd parted. The shimmering ghost of a woman drifted forward, and Jason felt as if his bones were turning to dust.

'My dearest,' said his mother's ghost. 'You have come home.'


	3. III- Jason

**Not many changes in this chapter. Actually, I think it was just a word and sentence. Nothing needed to be added. In the first few chapters. I've made a chapter for Percy too.**

**Sorry, no Annabeth chapter. I'll make another one too. For Frank or Hazel, maybe.**

**Maybe I'll remove Pipers chapter. Not sure yet. And since I've got some monthly tests up my sleeve...one chapter each week for each story of mine. **

**Anyways, Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jason, Piper and Annabeth. Neither do I own the text. My Ipad does. XD**

**Somehow he knew her.** He recognized her dress- a flowery green-and-red wraparound, like the skirt of a christmas tree. He recognized the colourful plastic bangles on her wrists that had dug into his back when she hugged him goodbye at the Wolf House. He recognized her hair, an over-teased corona of dyed blonde curls and her scent of lemons and aerosol.

Her eyes were blue like Jason's, but they gleamed with fracrured light, like she'd just come out of a bunker after a nuclear war- hungrily searching for familiar details in a changed world.

'Dearest.' She held out her arms.

Jason's vision tunelled. The ghosts and ghouls no longer mattered.

His Mist disguise burned off. His posture straightened. His joints stopped aching. His walking stick turned back into an Imperial Gold _gladius_.

The burning sensation didn't stop. He felt as if layers of his life were being seared away- his months at Camp Half-Blood, his years at Camp Jupiter, his training with Lupa the wolf goddess. He was a scared and vulnerable two-year-old again. Even the scar on his lip, from where he'd tried to eat a stapler as a toddler, stung like a fresh wound.

'Mom?' He managed.

'Yes, dearest.' Her image flickered. 'Come, embrace me.'

'You're- you're not real.'

'Of course she is real.' Michael Varus's voice sounded far away. 'Did you think Gaia would let such an important spirit languish in the Underworld? She is your mother, Beryl Grace, star of television, sweetheart to the king of Olympus, who rejected her not once but twice, in both his Greeks and Roman aspects. She deserves justice as much as any of us.'

Jason's heart felt wobbly. The suitors crowded around him, watching.

_I'm their entertainment_, Jason realized. The ghosts probably found this even more amusing than two beggars fighting to the death.

Piper's voice cut though the buzzing in his head. 'Jason, look at me.'

She stood twenty feet away, holding her ceramic amphora. Her smile was gone. Her gaze was fierce and conmanding- as impossble to ignore as the blue harpy feather in her hair. 'This isn't your mother. Her voice has some kind of magic in it- like charmspeak, but more dangerous.'

'She's right.' Annabeth climbed onto the nearest table. She kicked aside a platter, startling a dozen suitirs. 'Jason, that's only a remnant of your mother, like an _ara_, maybe, or-'

'A remnant!' His mother's ghost sobbed. 'Yes, look what I've been reduced to. It's jupiter a fault. He abandoned us. He wouldn't help me! I didn't want to leave you in Sonoma, my dear, but Juno and Jupiter gave me no choice. They wouldn't allow us to stay together. Why fight for them now? Join these suitors. Lead them. We can be a family again!'

Jason felt hundreds of eyes on him.

This has been the story if my life, he thought bitterly. Everyone had always watched him, expecting him to lead the way. From the moment he'd arrived to Camp Jupiter, the Roman demigods had treated him like a prince in waiting. Despite his attempts to alter his destiny- joining the worst cohort, trying to change the camp traditions, taking the least glamorous missions and befriending the least popular kids- he had been made praetor anyway. As a son of Jupiter, his future had been assured.

He remembered what Hercules had said to him at the Straits of Gibraltar: _It's not easy being the son of Zeus. Too much pressure. Eventually, it can make a guy snap_.

Now Jason was here, drawn as taut as a bowstring.

'You left me,' he told his mother. 'That wasn't Jupiter or Juno. That was _you_.'

Beryl Grace stepped forward. The worry lines around her eyes, the pained tightness in her mouth reminded Jason of his sister, Thalia.

'Dearest, I told you I would come back. Those were my last words to you. Don't you remember?'

Jason shivered. In the ruins of the Wolf House his mother had hugged him one last time. She had smiled, but her eyes were full of tears.

_It's all right_, she had promised. But even as a little kid Jason had known it wasn't all right. _Wait here. I will be back for you, dearest. I will see you soon._

She hadn't come back. Instead, Jason had wandered the ruins, crying and alone, calling for his mother and for Thalia- until the wolves came for him.

His mother's unkept promise was at the core of he was. He'd built his whole life at the irritation of her words, like a grain of sand at the centre of a pearl.

_People lie. Promises are broken._

That was why, as much as it chafed him, Jason followed rules. He kept his promises. He never wanted to abandon anyone the way he'd been abandoned and lied to.

Now his mom was back, erasing the one certainty Jason had about her- that she'd left him forever.

Across the table, Antinous raised his goblet. 'So pleased to meet you, son of Jupiter.

Listen to your mother. You have many grievances against the gods. Why not join us. I gather these two serving girls are your friends? We will spare them. You wish to have your mother remain in the world? We can do that. You wish to be king-'

'No.' Jason's head was spinning. 'No, I don't belong with you.'

Michael Varus regarded him with cold eyes. 'Are you sure, fellow praetor? Even if you defeat the giants and Gaia, would you return home like Odysseus did? Where _is_ your home now? With the Greeks? With the Romans? No one will accept you. And, _if_ you get back, whose to say you won't find ruins like this?'

Jason scanned the palace courtyard. Without the illusory balconies and colonnades, there was nothing but a heap of rubble on a barren hilltop. Only the fountain seemed real, spewing forth sand like a reminder of Gaia's limitless power.

'You were a legion officer,' he told Varus. 'A leader of Rome'

'So were you,' Varus said. 'Loyalties change.'

'You think I belong with _this_ crowd?' Jason asked. 'A bunch of dead losers waiting for a free handout from Gaia, whining that the world owes them something?'

Around the courtyard, ghosts and ghouls rose to their feet and drew weapons.

'Beware!' Piper yelled. 'Every man in this place is your enemy. Each one will stab you in the back at the first chance!'

Over the last few weeks, Pipers charmspeak had become truly powerful. She spoke the truth, and the crowd believed her. They looked sideways at one another, hands clenching the hilts if their swords.

Jason's mother stepped towards him. 'Dearest, be sensible. Give up your guest. Your _Argo II_ could never make the trip to Athens. Even if it did, there's the matter if the Athena Parthenos.'

A tremor passed through him. 'What do you mean?'

'Don't foreign ignorance, my dearest. Gaia knows about your friend Reyna and Nico the son of Hades and the satyr Hedge. To kill them, the Earth Mother had sent her mist dangerous son-The Hunter who never rests. But you don't have to die.'

The ghouls and ghosts closed in- two hundred of them facing Jason in anticipation, as if he might lead them in the national anthem.

_The Hunter who never rests._

Jason didn't know who that was, but he had to warn Reyna, Nico and Coach.

Which meant he had to get out of here alive.

He looked at Annabeth and Piper. Both stood ready, waiting for his cue,

He forced himself to meet his mother's eyes. She looked like the same woman who'd abandoned him in the Sonoma woods fourteen years ago. But Hason wasn't a toddler anymore. He was a battle veteran, a demigod who'd faced death countless times.

And what he saw in front of him wasn't his mother- at least, not what his mother _should_ be- caring, loving, selflessly protective.

_A remnant_, Annabeth had called her.

Michael Varus had told hum that the spirits here was sustained by their strongest desires. The spirit if Beryl Grace literally _glowed_ with need. Her eyes demanded Jason's attention. Her arms reached out, desperate to hug him

'What do you want?' He asked. 'What brought you here?'

'I want life!' She cried. 'Youth! Beauty! Your father could have made me immortal. He could have taken me to Olympus, but he abandoned me. You can set things right, Jason. You are my proud warrior. I've missed you so much!'

Her lemony scent turned acid, as if she was starting to burn.

Jason remembered something Thalia had told him. Their mother had become increasingly unstable, until her despair had driven her crazy. She had died in a car accident, the result of her driving while drunk.

The watered wine in Jason's stomach churned. He decided that if he lived through this day he would never drink alcohol again.

'You're a _mania_,' Jason decided, the word coming to him from the studies at Camp Jupiter long ago. 'A spirit of insanity. That's what you've been reduced to.'

'I am all that remains,' Beryl Grace agreed. 'Embrace me, son. I am all you have left.'

The memory of the South Wind spoke in his mind: _You can't choose your parentage. But you can choose your legacy._

Jason felt like he was being reassembled, one layer at a time. His gears best steadied. The chill left his bones. The afternoon sun warmed his skin.

'No,' he croaked. Jason glanced at Annabeth and Piper. 'My loyalties haven't changed. My family had just expanded. I'm a child of Greece and Rome.' He looked at his mother for the last time. 'I am no child of yours.'

He made the ancient sign of warding off evil- three finger thrust out from the heart- and the ghost of Beryl Grace disappeared with a soft hiss, like a sigh if relief.

The ghoul Antinous tossed his goblet aside. He studied Jason with a look if lazy disgust. 'Well, then,' he said, 'I suppose we'll just kill you.'

All around Jason, the enemy closed in.


	4. IV- Jason

**_A lot of changes in this chapter,though. Enjoy!_**

* * *

><p><strong>The fight was going great<strong>- until he got stabbed.

Jason slashed his _gladius_ in a wide arc, vaporizing the nearest suitors, then he vaulted onto the table and jumped right over Antinous's head. In midair he willed his blade to extend into a javelin- a trick he'd never tried with his sword- but somehow he knew it would work.

He landed on his feet holding a six-foot-long _pilum_. As Antinous turned to face him, Jason thrust his Imperial gold point through the ghoul's chest.

Antinous looked down incrediously. 'You-'

'Enjoy the Fields of Punishment. ' Jason yanked out his _pilum_ and Antinous crumbled to dirt.

Jason kept fighting, spinning his javelin- slicing through ghosts, knocking ghouls off their feet.

Across the courtyard, Annabeth fought like a demon, too. Her drakon-bone sword scythed down any suitors stupid enough to face her.

Over by the sand fountain, Piper had also drawn her sword- the jagged bronze blade she'd taken from Zethes the Boread. She stabbed and parried with her right hand, occasionally shooting tomatoes from the cornucopia in her left, while yelling at the suitors, 'Save yourselves! I'm too dangerous!'

That must have been exactly what they thought, because her opponents kept running away, only to freeze in confusion a few yards downhill, then charge back into the fight.

The Greek tyrant Hippias lunged at Piper, his dagger raised, but Piper blasted him point-blank in the chest with a lovely pot roast. He tumbled backwards into the fountain and screamed as he disintegrated.

An arrow whistled towards Jason's face. He blew it aside with a gust of wind, then cut through a line of sword-wielding ghouls and noticed a dozen suitors regrouping to charge Annabeth. He lifted his javelin to the sky. A bolt of lightning richcoted off the point and blasted the ghouls to ions, leaving a smoking crater where the sand fountain had once stood.

Over the last few months, sure Jason had fought many battles, but he'd forgotten what it was like to feel _good_ in combat. Of course he was still afraid, but a huge weight had been lifted off from his shoulders. He knew who he was. He had chosen his family, and it had nothing to do with Beryl Grace or even Jupiter. His family included all the demigods that fought at his side, Roman and Greek, new friends and old.

Jason summoned the winds and flung three ghouls off the side of the hill like rag dolls. He skewered a fourth, then willed his javelin to shrink back to a sword and hacked through another group of spirits.

Soon no more enemies faced him. The remaining ghosts began to disappear on their own. Annabeth cut down Hasdrubal the Carthaginian, and Jason made the mistake of sheathing his sword.

Pain erupted in his lower back- so sharp and cold he thought Khione, the snow goddess, had punched him.

Next to his ear, Michael Varus snarled, 'Born a Roman, die a Roman.'

The tip of a gold sword jutted through the front of Jason's shirt, just below his ribcage.

Jason fell to his knees. The world started to spin and Piper's scream sounded miles a away. He felt like he'd been immersed in salty water- his body weightless, his head swaying and his breath painful.

Piper charged towards him. He watched with detached emotion as her sword passed over his head and cut through Michael Varus's armour with a metallic _ka-chunk._

A burst of cold parted Jason's hair from behind. Dust settled around him, and an empty legionnaire's helmet rolled across the stones. The evil demigod was gone- but he had made a lasting impression.

'Jason!' Piper grabbed his shoulders as he began to fall sideways. He gasped as she gently pulled the sword out of his back. Then she lowered him to the ground, propping his head against a warm stone. But the heat wasn't enough to extinguish the icy pain.

Annabeth ran to their side. She had a nasty cut on the side of her neck and her dress was caked with mud,grease and dust.

'Oh Gods.' Her eyes widened at the sight of the wound.

'Thanks,' Jason groaned. 'I was afraid it might be that bad.'

He tried his best not to see the wound. His grey shirt was already soaked red and his arms and legs started to tingle as his body went into crisis mode, sending blood to his chest. His head felt like an inflated balloon from the blood loss. And worst of all, the wound was smoking. He was pretty sure sword wounds weren't supposed to smoke. 'You're going to be fine.' Piper spoke the words like an order. Her tone steadied him.

Annabeth stirred. She ripped through her supply pouch and unwrapped a piece of godly food.

'First things first, we have to stop the bleeding.' Piper used her dagger to cut fabric from the bottom of the dress. She ripped the cloth into bandages.

Jason dimly wondered how she knew so much first aid. She wrapped the wounds on his back and stomach while Annabeth pushed tiny bites of ambroisa into his mouth. She fed him another bite that tasted like brownies. 'Jason, I-I'm sorry. About your mom. But the way you handled it...that was so brave.'

Jason tried not to close his eyes. Every time he did, he saw his mom's spirit disintigrating.

'It wasn't her,' he said. 'At least, no part of her I could save. There was no other choice.'

Annabeth took a shaky breath. 'No other _right_ choice, maybe, but...a friend of mine, Luke. His mom...similar problem. He didn't handle it as well.'

Her voice broke. Jason didn't know much about Annabeth's past, but he sensed Annabeth had expected to see Luke among the suitors.

Piper glanced over at him in concern. 'I've bandaged as much as I can,' she said. 'Blood is still soaking through. And the smoke. I don't get that.'

Annabeth bit her lip. 'Imperial g-gold,' her voice quavered. ' I-It's deadly to demigods. It eats the soul. The only way to overcome it is to fight back.'

'We've got to get him back to the ship.' Piper decided.

I don't feel that bad,' Jason lied. The ambroisa had cleared his head and the pain felt numb. 'Maybe I could fly... '

Jason sat up. His visions turned a pale shade of green. His gut burned as his head punded. 'Or maybe not...' he croaked.

Piper caught his shoulders as he keeled sideways. 'Whoa, Sparky.'

'You haven't called me Sparky in a long time.'

Piper kissed his forehead. 'Stick with me and I'll insult you all you want.'

Annabeth scanned the ruins. The magic veener had faded, leaving only broken walls and excavation pits. 'We could use the energency flares to contact the _Argo II_, but-' she shook her head. 'Leo would blast the top of the hill with Greek fire.'

'Maybe,' Jason said. 'If you guys helped me, I could walk-'

'Absolutely not.' Piper objected.

Annabeth clicked her fingers. 'Got it. Piper, do you have a mirror?'

Piper rummaged through her belt pouch and pulled out a compact mirror. She handed it to Annabeth.

'Morse code,' Annabeth said. 'Leo knows it. He'll be watching from the ship. I'll go to the ridge-'

'And flash him!' Piper cleared her throat. 'That came out wrong. But yeah, good idea.'

Annabeth nodded and ran to the edge of the ruins.

Piper pulled out a flask of nectar and gave Jason a sip. 'Hang in there. You are _not_ going to die.'

Jason managed a weak smile. 'At least it wasn't a head injury this time. I stayed conscious during the entire fight.'

'You defeated, like, two hundred enemies.' Piper said. 'You were _scary_ amazing.'

'You guys helped.'

Jason's head began to drop. His vision became fuzzy.

'Maybe, but...Hey, stay with me.'

'Little dizzy.' He muttered.

'More nectar,' Piper ordered. 'There. Taste okay?'

'Yeah, fine.'

In fact the nectar tasted like maple syrup, from Camp Half-Blood, and hot chocolate, from New Rome.

Ever since the House of Hades when he'd resigned his praetorship, amboisa and nectar kept tasting two different things- making it bitter in his mouth. It was as if the food of the gods was confused which kind of gods he belonged to, Roman or Greek.

_Born a Roman, die a Roman,_ Michael Varus had said.

He had worse things to worry about than blood loss.

_Imperial g-gold,_ Annabeth had said. _I-It's deadly to demigods. It eats the soul. The only way to overcome it is to fight back._

She was right. The stuff was deadly to demigods as well as monsters. But there was a way to overcome it. He looked at the smoke curling from his bandages. The wound would do it's best to eat away at Jason's life force.

_I can't die,_ he told himself. _My friends are depending on me._

Antinous's words rang in his ears- about the giants in Athens, the impossible trip facing the _Argo II_, the mysterious hunter Gaia had sent to intercept the Athena Parthenos.

'Reyna, Nico and Coach Hedge,' He said. 'They're in danger. We need to warn them.'

'We'll take care of it when we get back to the ship,' Piper promised. 'Your job right now is to relax.' Her tone was light and confident, but her eyes brimmed with tears. 'Besides, those three are a though group. They'll be fine.'

Jason hoped she was right. Reyna had risked so much to help them. Coach Hedge was annoying sometimes, but he'd been a loyal protector for the entire crew. And Nico...Jason felt especially worried about him.

Piper studied him carefully as she brushed her thumb against the scar on his lip. 'Once the war is over...everything will work out for Nico. You've done what you could, being a friend to him.'

Jason tried not to gape. He hadn't told Piper about his conversations with Nico. He'd kept di Angelo's secret.

Maybe as a daughter of Aphrodite, Piper could tell when somebody was struggling with heartache. She hadn't pressured Jason to talk about it, though. He appreciated that.

Another wave of pain made him wince.

'Concentrate on my voice.' Piper kissed his forehead. 'Think about something good. Birthday cake in the park in Rome-'

'That was nice.'

'Last winter,' she suggested. 'The s'mores fight at the campfire.'

'I totally got you.'

'Did not. You had marshmallows in your hair for days!'

'I did not.' Jason smiled as his mind drifted back to better times. He just wanted to stay there- talking to Piper, holding her hand, not worrying about giants or Gaia or his mother's madness.

He knew they should get back to the ship. He was definitely in a bad shape. Also, they had the information they'd come for. But as he lay there on the warm stones, Jason felt a sense of incompleteness. And it had nothing to do with choosing Roman or Greek sides.

The story of the suitors, Queen Penelope and Odysseus swirled around his head. There was something more to this place- something he'd missed.

Annabeth came back limping from the edge of the hill.

'Are you hurt?' Jason asked her.

Annabeth glanced at her ankle. 'It's fine. Just the old break from the Roman caverns. Anyways, I signalled Leo. Frank's going to change into an eagle, fly up here and carry you back to the ship. I need to make a litter to keep you stable.'

Jason had a terrifying image of himself in a hammock, swinging between the claws of Frank the giant eagle, but he decided it would be better than dying.

Annabeth set to work. She collected scraps left behind by the suitors-a leather belt, a torn tunic, sandal straps, a red blanket and a couple of broken spear shafts. Her hands flew across the materials- ripping, weaving, tying, braiding.

'How are you doing that?' Jason asked in amazement.

'Learned it during my guest under Rome.' Annabeth kept her eyes on her work. 'I'd never had a reason to try weaving before, but it's handy for certain things, like getting away from spiders...' Her voice trailed off in the end. But Jason knew what she was thinking.

Annabeth tied off one last bit of a leather cord and _voilà_- a stretcher large enough to carry Jason, with spear shafts as carrying handles and safety straps across the middle.

Piper whistled appreciatively. 'The next time I need a dress altered, I'm coming to you.'

'Shut up, McLean,' Annabeth said, but her eyes glinted with satisfaction. 'Now, let's get him secured-'

'Wait,' Jason said.

His heart pounded. Watching Amnabeth weave the makeshift bed, Jason had remembered the story of Penelope- how she'd held out for twenty years, waiting for her husband Odysseus to return.

'A bed,' Jason said. 'There was a special bed in this palace.'

Piper looked worried. 'Jason, you've lost a lot of blood.'

'I'm not hallucinating,' he insisted. 'The marriage bed was sacred. If there was _any_ place you could talk to Juno...' He took a deep breath and called, 'Juno!'

Silence.

Maybe Piper was right. He wasn't thinking clearly.

Then, about sixty feet away, the stone floor cracked. Branches muscled through the earth, growing in fast motion until a full-sized olive tree shaded the courtyard. Under a canopy if grey-green leaves stood a dark-haired woman in a white dress, a leopard-skin cape draped over her shoulders. Her staff was topped with a white lotus staff. Her expression was cool and regal.

'My heroes,' said the goddess.

'Hera,' Piper said.

'Juno,' Jason corrected.

'Whatever,' Annabeth grumbled. 'What are you doing here, Your Bovine Majesty?'

Juno's dark eyes glinted dangerously. 'Annabeth Chase. As charming as ever.'

'Yeah, well,' Annabeth said, 'I just got back from _Tartarus_, mind you, so my manners are a little rusty, especially towards a goddess who wiped my boyfriend's memory, made him disappear for months and then-'

'Honestly, child. Are we going to rehash this again?'

'Aren't you supposed to be suffering from split-personality disorder?' Annabeth asked. 'I mean- more so than usual?'

'Whoa,' Jason interceded. He had plenty of reasons to hate Juno, too, but they had other issues to deal with. 'Juno, we need your help. We-' Jason tried to sit up and immediately regretted it. His insides felt like they were being twirled on a giant spaghetti fork.

Piper kept him from falling over. 'First things first,' she said. 'Jason is hurt. Heal him!'

The goddess knitted her eyebrows. Her form shimmered unsteadily.

'Some things even the gods cannot heal,' she said. 'This wound touches your soul as well as your body. You must fight it with it, Jason Grace...you _must_ survive.

'Yeah, thanks,' He croaked. 'I'm trying.'

'What do you mean, the wound touches his soul?' Piper demanded. 'Why can't you-'

'My heroes, our time together is short,' Juno said. 'I am grateful that you called upon me. I have spent weeks in a state of pain and confusion...my Greek and Roman natures warring against each other. Worse, I've been forced to hide from Jupiter, who searches for me in his misguided wrath, believing that I caused this war with Gaia.'

'Gee,' Annabeth said, 'why would he think that?'

Juno flashed her an irritated look. 'Fortunately, this place is sacred to me. By clearing away those ghosts, you have purified it and given me a moment of clarity. I will be able to speak with you- if only briefly.'

'Why is it sacred...?' Annabeth's eyes widened. 'Oh. The marriage bed!'

'Marriage bed?' Piper asked. 'I don't-'

'The bed of Penelope and Odysseus,' Annabeth explained. 'One of its bedposts was a living olive tree, so it could never be removed.'

'Indeed.' Juno ran her hand along the olive tree's trunk. Jason wondered if she realized she'd just agreed with Annabeth.

'An immovable marriage bed. Such a beautiful symbol! Like Penelope, the most faithful wife, standing her ground, fending off a hundred arrogant suitors for years because she knew her husband would return. Odysseus and Penelope- the epitome of a perfect marriage!'

Even in his dazed state, Jason was pretty sure he remembered stories of Odysseus falling for other women during his travels, but he decided not to bring that up.

'Can you advice us, at least?' He asked. 'Tell is what to do?'

'Sail around Peloponnese,' said the goddess. 'As you suspect, that is the only possible route. On your way, seek out the goddess of victory in Olympia. She is out of control.

Unless you can subdue her, the rift between Greek and Roman can never be healed.'

'You mean Nike?' Annabeth asked. 'How is she out of control?'

Thunder boomed overhead, shaking the hill.

'Explaining would take too long,' Juno said. 'I must flee before Jupiter finds me. Once I leave, I will not be able to help you again.'

Jason bit back a retort: _When did you help me the first time?_

Instead, he asked, 'What else should we know?'

'As you heard, the giants have gathered in Athens. Few gods will be able to help you on your journey, but I am not the only Olympian who is out of favour with Jupiter. The twins have also incurred his wrath.'

Annabeth frowned. 'Artemis and Apollo?'

'Why?' Piper asked.

Juno's image began to fade. 'If you reach the island of Delos, they might be prepared to help you. They are desperate enough to try anything to make amends. Go now. Perhaps we will meet again in Athens, if you succeed. If you do not...'

The goddess disappeared, or maybe Jason's eyesight simply failed. Pain as sharp as ever rolled through him. His head lolled back. He saw a giant eagle circling high above. Then the blue sky turned black, and Jason saw nothing at all.


End file.
